Hollow brick with holding ribs

ABSTRACT

A hollow brick includes a bottom wall, two side walls projecting from the bottom wall, a plurality of intermediate walls projecting from the bottom wall between the side walls, and a top wall opposite to the bottom wall and connecting the side walls and the intermediate walls. A plurality of ventilation holes is bounded by the bottom wall, the side walls, the intermediate walls and the top wall. Each ventilation hole has two ventilation open ends opposite to each other along the transverse sides of the bottom wall. Two outer holding ribs projects respectively from outer surfaces of the side walls in opposite outward directions.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority to Taiwanese Patent Application No. 107145717, filed on Dec. 18, 2018.

FIELD

The disclosure relates to a brick, and more particularly to a hollow brick capable of heat insulation.

BACKGROUND

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, an existing brick 1 includes a main body 11, and a top plate 12 that is made of porous material and that covers the main body 11. The main body 11 has a bottom wall 110, a surrounding wall 111 extending around from the bottom wall 110, an inner space 100 defined by the bottom wall 110 and the surrounding wall 111, a plurality of partition plates 112 disposed in and dividing the inner space 100 into a plurality of compartment sections 101, and a plurality of spaced-apart ventilation recesses 113 indented into outer surfaces of the surrounding wall 111 and the bottom wall 110 and elongated from bottom wall 110 to a top of the surrounding wall 111.

FIG. 3 illustrates that a plurality of the bricks 1 are juxtaposed with each other and arranged in rows and columns to form a heat-insulation structure for a roof. Because the top plate 12 is porous, the compartment sections 101 can collect and store rainwater. Further, the ventilation recesses 113 provide ventilation.

However, because the surrounding walls 111 of the bricks 1 are not provided with interconnecting structures, when a number of bricks 1 are juxtaposed with each other, they fail to form an integrally interconnected structure. Due to lack of connecting strength, utilizing the bricks 1 may encounter insecurity problems. Further, though the top plate 12 is porous, because the compartment sections 101 collect and store rainwater, the compartment sections 101 may not be well ventilated. Even if the bricks 1 can be well ventilated vertically or along a top-bottom direction, ventilation along a horizontal direction is impossible for the bricks 1, thereby reducing head-insulation and heat dissipation effects.

SUMMARY

Therefore, an object of the disclosure is to provide a hollow brick that includes outer holding ribs and that can alleviate at least one of the drawbacks of the prior art.

According to the disclosure, a hollow brick includes a bottom wall, two side walls, a plurality of intermediate walls, a top wall, a plurality of ventilation holes and two outer holding ribs.

The bottom wall has two opposite longitudinal sides and two opposite transverse sides connected between the longitudinal sides.

The side walls respectively and upwardly projects from two opposite transverse sides of the bottom wall.

The intermediate walls projects upwardly from the bottom wall between the side walls and are spaced apart along a direction parallel with the longitudinal sides of the bottom wall.

The top wall are opposite to the bottom wall and connect the side walls and the intermediate walls.

The ventilation holes are bounded by the bottom wall, the side walls, the intermediate walls and the top wall. Each of the ventilation holes has two ventilation open ends opposite to each other along a line parallel with the transverse sides of the bottom wall.

The outer holding ribs project respectively from outer surfaces of the side walls in opposite outward directions.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other features and advantages of the disclosure will become apparent in the following detailed description of the embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which:

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view illustrating an existing brick;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view illustrating the existing bricks juxtaposed each other;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating the existing bricks arranged in rows and columns;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating a first embodiment of a hollow brick according to the disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a partly sectional perspective view of the first embodiment illustrating two adjacent hollow bricks assembled with first and second corrugated plates;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary front view of the assembly shown in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view illustrating a second embodiment of a hollow brick according to the disclosure; and

FIG. 8 is a front view of the second embodiment illustrating two adjacent hollow bricks associated with the first and second corrugated plates.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Before the disclosure is described in greater detail, it should be noted that where considered appropriate, reference numerals or terminal portions of reference numerals have been repeated among the figures to indicate corresponding or analogous elements, which may optionally have similar characteristics.

FIG. 4 shows a first embodiment of a hollow brick according to the disclosure. The hollow brick includes a bottom wall 2, two side walls 3, two intermediate walls 4, a top wall 5, a plurality of ventilation holes 80, two outer holding ribs 61, and two inner holding ribs 7.

The bottom wall 2 has two opposite longitudinal sides 2 a (only one shown in FIG. 4) and two opposite transverse sides 2 b connected between the longitudinal sides 2 a.

The side walls 3 respectively and upwardly projects from the two opposite transverse sides 2 b of the bottom wall 2.

The intermediate walls 4 projects upwardly from the bottom wall 2 between the side walls 3 and is spaced apart along a direction parallel with the longitudinal sides 2 a of the bottom wall 2.

The top wall 5 is opposite to the bottom wall 2 and connects the side walls 3 and the intermediate walls 4.

The ventilation holes 80 is bounded by the bottom wall 2, the side walls 3, the intermediate walls 4 and the top wall 5. Each ventilation hole 80 has two ventilation open ends opposite to each other along a line parallel with the transverse sides 2 b of the bottom wall 2. The number of the ventilation holes 80 is three.

The outer holding ribs 61 project respectively from outer surfaces of the side walls 3 in opposite outward directions. In addition, the hollow brick of the disclosure further includes two outer flanges 62 which respectively project in opposite outward directions from the outer surfaces of the side walls 3 at a level above the outer holding ribs 61. The outer holding ribs 61 and the outer flanges 62 are proximal to the top wall 5.

The inner holding ribs 7 are respectively disposed in two of the ventilation holes 80 respectively proximal to the side walls 3. Each inner holding rib 7 projects from one of the intermediate walls 4 toward an adjacent one of the side walls 3. Further, each inner holding rib 7 has a joining end 70 fixed to the corresponding one of the intermediate walls 4, and a free end 71 opposite to the joining end 70 and spaced apart from the adjacent one of the side walls 3.

While in this embodiment the number of the intermediate walls 4 is two and the number of the ventilation holes 80 is three, the number of the intermediate walls 4 and the number of the ventilation holes 80 are not limited to this embodiment. A specific number of the ventilation holes 80 can be defined by varying the number of the intermediate walls 4.

Referring to FIG. 5, in combination with FIG. 4, two hollow bricks of the disclosure are assembled with a first corrugated plate 91 and a second corrugated plate 92 to constitute a ventilation and temperature-adjustment structure for a roof. As shown in FIG. 4, the first corrugated plate 91 has front and rear parts 91 a and 91 b. The front part 91 a has two connection portions 911 respectively disposed on two opposite sides of the first corrugated plate 91, and two insertion portion 912 respectively connected to the connection portions 911. The first corrugated plate 91 is positioned between two adjacent hollow bricks of the disclosure in a bridging manner. Each connection portion 911 is connected between the outer holding rib 61 and the outer flange 62 of the corresponding one of the two adjacent hollow bricks. Each insertion portion 912 is inserted into an adjacent one of the ventilation holes 80 of the corresponding hollow brick. Like the front part 91 a, the rear part 91 b also has connection portions 911 (only one shown in FIG. 5) and insertion portions 912 for connecting other two adjacent hollow bricks (not shown).

Each second corrugated plate 92 has a front part 92 a for insertion into one of the hollow bricks of the disclosure disposed at the front thereof, and a rear part 92 b for insertion into another hollow brick of the disclosure (not shown) disposed at the rear thereof so that the second corrugated plate 92 bridges two hollow bricks spaced apart along a front-rear direction. Each of the front or rear part 92 a, 92 b has two lateral portions 922, and a curved middle portion 921 between the lateral portions 922. The curved middle portion 921 of the front part 92 a is inserted into one of the ventilation holes 80 of the hollow brick at the front thereof. The two lateral portions 922 are respectively seated on the inner holding ribs 7 of the front hollow brick. By using the first and second corrugated plates 91, 92, the hollow bricks of the disclosure may be interconnected along intersecting rows to form the ventilation and temperature-adjustment structure for the roof.

FIG. 6 illustrates the ventilation and temperature-adjustment structure composed of the hollow bricks of the disclosure and the first and second corrugated plates 91, 92. The ventilation holes 80 of the hollow bricks of the disclosure provide ventilation effects along the transverse sides 2 b of the hollow bricks. Further, by virtue of the first and second corrugated plates 91, 92 each connected to two adjacent hollow bricks of the disclosure, additional ventilation paths can be formed between the hollow bricks of the disclosure. Therefore, ventilation, heat-dissipation and heat-insulation effects are enhanced along the longitudinal sides 2 a and the transverse sides 2 b of the hollow bricks when the hollow bricks are assembled with the first and second corrugated plates 91, 92.

FIG. 7 illustrates a second embodiment of a hollow brick according to the disclosure, which has a structure generally similar to that of the first embodiment. However, in this embodiment, each of the inner holding ribs 7 has two joining ends 70 respectively fixed to one of the intermediate walls 4 and an adjacent one of the side walls 3. In other words, each inner holding rib 7 connect one of the intermediate walls 4 and an adjacent one of the side walls 3 to bridge the ventilation hole 80 defined therebetween. Therefore, the hollow brick of the disclosure is structurally strengthened. Further in this embodiment, a ratio of the height of the side walls 3 and the intermediates walls 4 to the width of the hollow brick is adjusted to be increased. As such, the size of the ventilation holes 80 may be adjusted, and the height of the top wall 5 from a support surface may be increased so as to match with the height of a surrounding wall of a building (e.g., a parapet wall) for providing suitable air entrance conditions. Therefore, a sufficient level of ventilation can be ensured, and heat dissipating and insulating effects can be achieved.

As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, though the inner holding ribs 7 of the second embodiment are different in configuration from that of the first embodiment, the two lateral portions 922 of the second corrugated plate 92 are also allowed to be respectively seated on the inner holding ribs 7 of the corresponding hollow brick of the second embodiment.

To sum up, by virtue of the outer holding ribs 6 connectible to the first corrugated plates 91 and the inner holding ribs 7 connectible to the second corrugated plates 92, a plurality of the hollow bricks of the disclosure can be interconnected with each other in a spaced apart manner to provide multiple air paths capable of ventilation in multi-directions.

In the description above, for the purposes of explanation, numerous specific details have been set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art, that one or more other embodiments may be practiced without some of these specific details. It should also be appreciated that reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” an embodiment with an indication of an ordinal number and so forth means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic may be included in the practice of the disclosure. It should be further appreciated that in the description, various features are sometimes grouped together in a single embodiment, figure, or description thereof for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure and aiding in the understanding of various inventive aspects, and that one or more features or specific details from one embodiment may be practiced together with one or more features or specific details from another embodiment, where appropriate, in the practice of the disclosure.

While the disclosure has been described in connection with what are considered the exemplary embodiments, it is understood that this disclosure is not limited to the disclosed embodiments but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent arrangements. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A hollow brick, comprising: a bottom wall having two opposite longitudinal sides and two opposite transverse sides connected between said longitudinal sides; two side walls respectively and upwardly projecting from two opposite transverse sides of said bottom wall; a plurality of intermediate walls projecting upwardly from said bottom wall between said side walls and spaced apart along a direction parallel with said longitudinal sides of said bottom wall; a top wall opposite to said bottom wall and connecting said side walls and said intermediate walls; a plurality of ventilation holes bounded by said bottom wall, said side walls, said intermediate walls and said top wall, each of said ventilation holes having two ventilation open ends opposite to each other along a line parallel with said transverse sides of said bottom wall; and two outer holding ribs projecting respectively from outer surfaces of said side walls in opposite outward directions.
 2. The hollow brick as claim in claim 1, further comprising two outer flanges which respectively project in opposite outward directions from said outer surfaces of said side walls at a level above said outer holding ribs, said outer holding ribs and said outer flanges being proximal to said top wall.
 3. The hollow brick as claim in claim 1, wherein the number of said intermediate walls is two, and the number of said ventilation holes is three.
 4. The hollow brick as claimed in claim 1, further comprising two inner holding ribs respectively disposed in two of said ventilation holes respectively proximal to said side walls, each of said inner holding ribs projecting from one of said intermediate walls toward an adjacent one of said side walls.
 5. The hollow brick as claimed in claim 4, wherein each of said inner holding ribs has a joining end fixed to said one of said intermediate walls, and a free end opposite to said joining end and spaced apart from said adjacent one of said side walls.
 6. The hollow brick as claimed in claim 4, wherein each of said inner holding ribs has two joining ends respectively fixed to said one of said intermediate walls and said adjacent one of said side walls. 